how far respect can take

happy are those who walk

with respect, who know their

place in the world &

they do so, being propped up &

nourished by support groups,

from the family to the work place,

from a circle of friends to

the decency found in the eyes of

a random compassionate stranger---

funny how for many

it is nearly impossible to

read between the lines

when another speaks to them,

when real horrors in the home or

issues that still stir from the past,

which have beaten us all into a

bloody pulp on the inside,

regardless of how perty/handsome

we might seem on the outside,

bubble up in the words

like a simple code that doesn’t need

to be broken, because it only

happens when another trusts you

enough to crack the door open

just far enough to squeak.

 

how far respect for another who has

been through the proverbial hell &

still walks can take one, is anybody’s

guess, but the courage to risk nothing

in order to gain everything through

a few minutes of really listening to

another, with no want of anything at

all for the self, can do wonders for

this world,

because respect for another human

being, outside anything but the

act itself, can only strengthen what

seems to be at a quick glance, our

ever weakening backbone of a

species & certainly, most of us can

agree, this is a

good thing.